Employment a challenge for many with disabilities

THE IMPACT: National Disability Employment Awareness Month is intended to educate employers about providing opportunities for workers with disabilities.

Gerry Tuoti Wicked Local Newsbank Editor

For people with disabilities in Massachusetts and across the country, employment rates are rising, but have still not recovered to pre-recession levels.

Massachusetts advocates for people with disabilities are running awareness and education campaigns in October to mark National Disability Employment Awareness month. David D’Arcangelo, director of the Massachusetts Office on Disability, said finding employment is a major issue facing many people with disabilities.

While people with disabilities, as a whole, experience higher rates of unemployment and lower rates of labor participation, D’Arcangelo prefers to look at individuals on a case-by-case basis rather than painting with a broad brush.

“Disability isn’t a monolithic concept,” he said. “Somebody who has challenges with vision may encounter challenges that are different than someone who has challenges hearing, or someone with cognitive or ambulatory challenges.”

In the 2016 annual Disability Statistics Compendium, which was published by StatsRRTC, 79.5 percent of Massachusetts adults 18 to 64 were employed. For Massachusetts adults with disabilities, the rate was 35.1 percent. Nationally, those rates were 76 percent and 35 percent, respectively.

“This growth is positive, and may indicate that people with disabilities are closing in on their pre-Great Recession employment levels.” said John O’Neill, director of employment and disability research at the Kessler Foundation.

An Oct. 6 report from the Kessler Foundation and the Institute on Disability at the University of New Hampshire, found the national labor force participation rate for September rose for people with disabilities for the 18th consecutive month. The September labor force participation rate of 33.1 percent was up 6.8 percent from a year ago.

The employment-to-population ratio, the ratio of people working compared to the total population, was 30.4 percent last month for people with disabilities. Compared to 28 percent the previous year.

“Although these numbers are very encouraging, full recovery to pre-Great Recession employment levels is still on the horizon, said Andrew Houtenville associate professor of economics at UNH and research director of the Institute on Disability. “If we look back to September 2009, which was the first month that the Bureau of Labor Statistics began reporting disability statistics, the employment-to-population ratio was 32.7 percent for people with disabilities. Keep in mind that this followed the major job loss months of February and August of 2009, so the employment-to-population ratio prior to the recession was probably well above this percentage.”

Adding specific training

There are a variety of new programs to help individuals with disabilities enter the job market and prepare for careers.

The Kessler Foundation is piloting a program to provide career services to people who are recovering at rehabilitation centers following spinal cord injuries. That strategy, researchers say, could potentially increase employment rates for people who have suffered injury-related disabilities and get them back into the workforce sooner.

In Massachusetts, the executive branch is launching a mentoring program on Oct. 16 to pair disabled people with state employees. The weeklong program, D’Arcangelo said, is intended to expose disabled people to potential career paths in state government. The state government, he said, is the largest employer in Massachusetts.

Another aspect of the state awareness campaign is to educate employees and employers about legal protections for workers with disabilities.

The Americans with Disabilities Act provides a series of federal protections, barring employers from discriminating against employees due to a disability.

“A key thing is letting employers know and giving them the understanding that the ADA is there to ensure people with disabilities have access and opportunities to employment…” D’Arcangelo said. “Let’s try to just treat everyone the same. People with disabilities have talents, and we need to provide them with access and opportunities.”